Author: Sherri Brooks Vinton
Publisher: Storey Publishing, LLC (2013)
There is nothing like cracking into a jar of homemade
jam. For years, we have been able to enjoy the bounty of the Spring and Summer
year-round thanks to the ancient practice of preserving berries, tomatoes,
stone fruit and more. While today it seems like produce has no seasonality
thanks to imports and greenhouses, canning has the unique quality of being able
to consistently provide the taste and nutrition of fruit and vegetables in
their prime. This, and the ever-stronger movement towards frugal and honest
food, is perhaps the reason canning is enjoying a resurgence with a new
generation of professional and home cooks. Nobody understands this “young love”
better than author Sherri Brooks Vinton, whose previous work Put Em Up! introduced
preserving both fruits and vegetables with approachable, decadent style. Now she’s
back with another installment – Put 'em Up! Fruit: A Preserving Guide &
Cookbook: Creative Ways to Put 'em Up, Tasty Ways to Use 'em Up – and it is
just as packed with tempting goodies.
As it’s name implies, Put Em Up! Fruit is
exclusively about the home preservation of, well, fruit. Beyond berries and
applesauce (though there are those too), Brooks Vinton also includes recipes
for more unusual varieties such as grapefruit, quince and rhubarb. Each of the
17 types of fruit have a few options for preserving, from canning and freezing
to drying, plus suggestions on how to really make them your own. While many of
the preserves in Put Em Up! Fruit are jams, the book also has a wealth
of savoury sauces and gastriques, cordials and cocktails too. It’s easy to
picture using parts of this book at every meal, not to mention proudly giving
away jars of your work over the holidays!
Of course, there is no point in canning all these
glorious things if you have no idea what to do with them all afterwards. Brooks
Vinton solves this issue too, providing an array of 80 “use up” recipes. From Broiled
Pork Chops with Apricot Glaze (p. 71) to Pear Soup (p. 197) and (my personal
favourite) Flourless Chocolate Cake with Strawberry Rhubarb Jam (p. 242), there
is no excuse to have any of the preserves languish in your pantry!
As casual and friendly as Put Em Up! Fruit is on
the surface, it should be noted that Brooks Vinton takes her craft seriously
and spares no space documenting the safest and most rewarding methods for
canning at home. Part One, at just over 30 pages, is a must-read for anyone new
to preserving and is worth reviewing if (like me) you are a Summer-only canner.
The section covers Keys to Success
(i.e. only use fruit that’s ripe and preferably local, definitely not anything
past it’s prime), a handy glossary, basic boiling-water bath methodology,
ingredient roles in recipes, syrups, ingredient preparations, and of course,
discussion of the all-important pectin. If you run into trouble along the way,
a browse of Put Em Up! Fruit’s Troubleshooting
section answers many of the common canning issues out there. In addition, the
book includes three pages of Resources in
the back, giving readers no reason to shy away from the craft due to lack of
equipment.
I couldn’t wait to try out some of the recipes in Put
Em Up! Fruit, especially since I planned to give homemade food gifts out again
at Christmas. I’m a fairly seasoned canner, but I usually make my jams and
jellies with pectin rather than relying on the “gel test” method used with
sugar-only recipes. That said, the Five
Spice Plum Sauce (p. 214) was relatively simple to put together, although I
wound up requiring far more liquid than stated in the recipe. The Strawberry Balsamic Glaze (p. 246) was
more akin to the recipe’s wording though, and the gourmet flavours were just as
simple to put together. While I “cheated” and used my dehydrator for the Berry
Apple Leather (p. 88), I loved the method Brooks Vinton used to make the puree
and her reasoning for using apples – they are a neutral, pectin-rich base that
helps “stretch” the more expensive berries and give the sheet of puree
structure. Since the first batch from the book, I have used the same principles
for a variety of “fruit roll ups” at home, and not once have I had an issue. I’ve
bookmarked a handful of other scrumptious-looking recipes for future projects,
but since I’m running out of jars (and much of the fruit is out of season now),
they will have to wait till next year.
Strawberry Balsamic Glaze (p. 246) |
Available on Amazon